I think you have to look at it in context and in comparison to different eras and genres.
Cracked Rear View sold a little over 10 million according to Soundscan. Since it was released 3 years into the Soundscan era, its discrepancy is probably the biggest of all certified albums. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few million came from Columbia House/BMG. How many were for a fraction of a cent, I wonder. My copy was.
At the time there were several albums and artists enjoying similar sales. It was a boom time for the industry and for debut albums. Alanis Morrisette and Shania Twain, for example. Multiple Garth Brooks albums, the Bodyguard soundtrack, Backstreet Boys, Pearl Jam- there were a lot of Diamond level artists/albums to emerge around that time. Dixie Chicks, Jewel, Matchboxx 20- all 12+ million sellers. Green Day, TLC, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins all 10+ million on albums from that era. Britney Spears, N Sync, Creed, Kid Rock all Diamond sellers- if you look toward the end of the 90s.
It seems like the only huge selling artist to emerge in the last 10 years or so is Adele.
IIRC, Hootie’s second album had 1 minor hit and sold a couple million. From there on out they would pop up on a made for TV movie soundtrack, manage 1 AC or minor Lite Rock hit per album and fare worse and worse on the charts and sales. Rucker’s R&B Album got a lot of hype. I remember reading about it in music publications, seeing it on prime endcaps in large music chains, etc. I don’t think it charted.
So, you are talking about a guy whose band peaked around 1995 and his own solo album under his name was DOA in the early 2000s. In what could have been considered another calculated genre change, it was released around the height of the Neo-Soul craze and featured Jill Scott (who was around the height of her success and still has a nice career today).
So then, in the late 2000s, over a decade removed from previous commercial success, Rucker enters a new genre. FWIW, I recall Rucker saying in interviews that he was all-in as a country artist for life, and he worked really hard doing the radio and press circuit convincing people that this was not a one-off vanity project and that he understood if people were skeptical. I think he said that a lot of his Hootie songs could have been country but he just happened to be in a rock band so that’s the form they took.
Alright, so in modern times when there are legit stars that struggle to go Gold (not the 90s when EVERYONE was multi-platinum), Rucker has released 4 studio albums and a Holiday album. All 4 of his albums were #1 on the country charts. His worst performing album was #7 on the BB200. He has 2 #2 overall albums. 1 Platinum and 3 Gold albums that are in a genre and style that is not going to crossover to Lite Rock, Alternative, AC, Pop, like Hootie did. There is no “Hold My Hand” playing on VH1 every 17 minutes, etc. It’s a different environment.
In 7 years since his country debut, He’s still charting at #1 in his genre. He’s still on a major label. He’s had 13 singles (just counting solo album singles) on the Country Airplay charts, including 6 #1s. He’s managed 10 Hot 100 hits including 5 top 40 singles.
After Hootie’s 2nd album (2 years after their first) they had no songs charting or being played on rock or pop radio. They managed a string of singles on the low rungs of the Adult Top 40 and AC. Their 4th Album was #46. Their 5th album was #47, on and independent, and sank quickly. I think they could still draw some crowds and a reunion tour would probably do well, but they had about 2 years of a peak career.
Rucker will never have the opportunity to sell 5 million albums for a fraction of a penny and his whole country career might not Soundscan 10 million. He won’t be playing MTV Spring Break, but I think he’s made himself quite a career. Kids who turn 21 today weren’t even alive when Cracked Rear View was released and might not have heard of Hootie- Hootie music hasn’t really aged well or stayed around in the public consciousness. The last certification for any Hootie release was in 1999. Cracked Rear View sold at least 99% of its cumulative by then. It certainly hasn’t sold a million in the last 16 years.
